So, a few weeks ago, we did something similar to this lecture, except it was about the doctrine of scripture. And I talked to you, as I have several times this year, about modern day threats to the doctrine of the scripture. I did that a few weeks ago. Remember, Roman Catholicism can be a threat to the doctrine of scripture. Neo-Orthodoxy, oh wait, did I just ask you this? That was on the quiz, wasn't it? So I was talking then a few weeks ago about threats to the doctrine of scripture and I was identifying certain denominations or certain theological movements. Neo-Orthodoxy is a theological movement. Today I have to do something a little different when I try to alert you to the fact that there are modern day threats to the doctrine of, pardon me, of the church. That's what we're talking about today. And I want you to know that there are people and there are more particularly attitudes and perspectives that people have in the church. that are a threat to a biblical view of the church. Okay, so I'm doing something a little more subtle now. I actually want to say that you are a threat to the doctrine of the church if you think in one of these three ways. I am a threat to the orthodox doctrine of the church if I am a factionalist or if I act out in an autonomous way, or if I carry myself as an individualist. Those are big words. I get it. I'll explain what I mean as we go along. But I'm using those three words today, not because there's a group of people going around saying, we're part of a faction, factionalist party, or somebody who says, oh yeah, I believe in autonomy. No, no, no, you're not gonna meet anybody like that. These are words that I'm using to describe ways of thinking, attitudes, and I need to tell you they're very common. They're very common in the church and in evangelicalism, and as much as these things are common within God's people and communities of God's people, they've contributed to a very unbiblical view of the church. I want you to listen to these as I go on with you and ask yourself, have I ever met somebody, or more particularly, have I ever been somebody that thinks like this or acts like this? These are kind of the attitudes that lay at the root of the problems that Cyprian, that church father we've been studying, was confronting in his day. All right, so first of all, factionalism. If you want a slogan for someone who's got this way of thinking, it's the person who says, I'm leaving the church. I'm leaving, that's it. I'm done. I'm out of here. Now, I'm gonna acknowledge that there are times when it's right and necessary to leave a church. I'm gonna acknowledge that. But there's a whole lot of leaving that happens by Christians of churches that I think is not legitimate, not necessary, and it's what I'm calling Factionalism. The problem with factionalism is a readiness to leave. For very little reason, or for very inadequate reasons. That's the problem, you can fill in the blank in your own notes, I'm not gonna do it here on the board. That's the problem with factionalism. A readiness to leave the church. Remember how Cyprian confronted that with the Donatists? They said, okay, we got a disagreement, fine, we're leaving, we're outta here. Now folks, I wanna say to you, that's an extremely common attitude in our day. And I wanna say even further that it's a very big problem, particularly with Protestant Christians. I gather we're all Protestants in this room, so I'm saying to you, it's really a big problem for us. I'll illustrate that with my diagram of church history, and you can tell me what belongs at each point here. All right, so this is the early church, and this guy right here is named Cyprian. See Cyprian up there? All right, that's our church father, Cyprian. Back when Cyprian was alive, There was a little attempt by the Donatists to leave. And eventually they came back and everything was okay again. But Cyprian lived in a day in which the church was won. People didn't leave. And when someone threatened to leave, he was scandalized. He said, you can't do that. Remember? He said that unity of the church, the oneness of the church, is vital to the gospel itself. All right, so what happens here? What's the first big church division? Give it to me. Sorry? Okay, you could count up the Donatists, but they come back, so it's not a permanent division. No, this is in terms of, well, I'll give you a hint. This happens at around the year 1000. Remember that? What the church divides into two parts around the year 1000. Not quite, not yet. Have I not given you this illustration yet, this church history diagram? All right, the great schism. Does that ring a bell in history? The great schism is between the east and the west. Remember? So this tradition, which goes on to this day, is represented in the Orthodox tradition, the Greek Orthodox, the Russian Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, that whole tradition. You guys go see an Orthodox cathedral, don't you? All right, so that's the Eastern tradition. The West continues, and we're part of the West. What's this division here? It's roughly 500 years later. What's this division? Josh, what happened in that period of time that divided the Western Church into two parts? What happened? We're celebrating 500 years of it this year. Protestant Reformation. Alright, so, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism divide in 1500. And of course, the Roman Catholic Church continues to this day, and today there is one unified Protestant church, right? Right? No? What actually is the case? Well, Protestants went for a few years, before they split into Lutheran, and Presbyterian, and Anglican, and Methodist, and Baptist, and you know what? Eventually all these people split, and eventually all there are in our day? Did you hear what my question was? I'm part of a denomination, the Orthodox Christian Church, some of you are part of the Presbyterian Church in America, or other denominations or traditions. Do you have any denominations or now affiliations, communities there are in the Protestant Church? All right, there's one Eastern tradition, there's one Roman Catholic tradition, do you know how many Protestant traditions there are? It's about 30,000. Don't ask me to draw that up here, okay? That would be very tedious. Do you think Protestant Christians have a little bit of a problem with this? A little bit? I'm talking about myself and my tradition, so it's okay, right? I'm not just criticizing other Christians. I'm talking about myself, my tradition, my Presbyterian tradition, my Protestant tradition. We have a tendency that would drive Cyprian absolutely out of his mind. When we have a disagreement, no matter how large or small, to just leave, to form factions and divide. That's why I'm using the term factionalism. I don't like what's happening, so I'm going to leave. Do you remember what happened in John 17? This is a significant passage for this whole subject. If you don't remember, you might want to turn to it. passage where Jesus is showing us his heart in his prayer right before he's betrayed and tried and sentenced, tortured, and executed. This is Jesus' high priestly prayer, as some have called it, in John 17. And you remember one of the things that he prays for right before his death for his church, he prays that the church would be unified, that they would stay together, that they would be one. John 17, verse 20. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be, what's the next word? One, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. Now, guys, when Jesus prays that, he does something amazing. First of all, he says, I want them to be one in the way that you and I are one. That's pretty profound oneness, isn't it? The way the Father and the Son are one. So Jesus says, I want them to be one the way you and I are one. And he says, I want them to be one in order that people will actually believe that you sent me. Do you see what Jesus is saying? Jesus is saying that this kind of nonsense is going to make it hard for people to believe that Christianity is real. Ow. Have you ever heard, I mean, or seen someone who's critical of Christianity saying, look, if Christianity was true, there'd be a little more agreement among Christians themselves. Have you ever heard that accusation against the church? Probably will. Jesus prays that his disciples would be one so that the world may believe that you have sent me. Jesus knows that if the church is constantly fighting among themselves and dividing, it's gonna be very hard for the world to think that there's really a supernatural thing bringing them together in one Lord, one faith, one baptism. This is painful to talk about because of what I've just said to you about our particular tradition. So let's just do something about it. Let's just make all these Protestant traditions come back together again. You think we can pull that off? Probably we in this room can't pull that off, although there have been some pretty remarkable attempts to reunite much of Protestantism. There have been some pretty remarkable attempts. It's called the ecumenical movement. Have you ever heard of that term? The ecumenical movement? Carolina? Is this part of the solution? Yes, it is. The ecumenical movement is a desire to mend the divisions in the church. And to be ecumenically minded is to have a heart, a zeal for the unity of the church. Carolina, you could put that under solution. A heart. I don't need to know how to spell ecumenical, that won't be able to do it. What's the solution? It's to have a zeal for the unity of the church. That's what ecumenical thinking and endeavors are. They are expressing a heart for unity in the church. So, for example, in the 1980s, My denomination, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and the denomination that some of you are part of, the Presbyterian Church in America, we danced together and talked and thought about getting married. How did denominations dance together? I know you're asking yourself that question. Well, the way we did that, back in the 80s, the OPC and the PCA, we had committees and the committees came together and they talked. They said, what would it look like for our two denominations to come together and be just one denomination? Now, that would not do a whole lot for this problem. You know, it would take two of these 30,000 denominations and make them one. That wouldn't do a lot. The thinking at that time in the 1980s was these are two denominations. They're both Presbyterian. They both have the Westminster Confession as their standard. They both have the same kind of ordination vows. There's so much that would please the Lord for them to come together. Remember his prayer, John 17? And so these committees came together and it almost happened. I won't bore you with all the details. Both sides had to vote. There was one general assembly in which the PCA or the OPC, I can't remember, voted to do it, and the other one voted not to. And then the very next year, they traded places, and the other one voted not to, and the other one voted to. It was quite a calamity for those who were interested in the church coming together. And it's an interesting study. What is it that made the OPC hesitant to join the PCA? What is it made the PCA hesitant to join the OPC? I won't bore you. I consider that to be a great tragedy. So it's just American Presbyterianism. It's just one small piece of the larger church. I'm very sad that didn't happen. I would love for these multiple denominations that have so much in common to come back together because I don't like factionalism. God doesn't like that attitude. I don't want to be one with you. I want to leave. When I say God doesn't like it, it's not just John 17. It's many other passages, and if you're quick, I'll say them so you can write them down. Many other passages in which we're exhorted to be one. Romans 12, verse 16, live in harmony with one another. Romans 15, verse 5, live in such harmony with one another that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 10. I appeal to you that you all agree with one another, that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. That's one of the most amazing passages, calling for unity. 2 Corinthians 13, 11. Paul is signing off and he says finally brothers farewell among the things he says be of one mind. Ephesians chapter 4. He says in verse 3 be eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace there is one body one spirit Just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. You got the picture there? There's a drumbeat emphasis. That oneness in your salvation should bring about a oneness in your relating to one another. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm trying to say the Bible wants it to be very hard for us ever to consider leaving each other. over some kind of disagreement. All right, so you may not ever serve on a committee that's charged with investigating and trying to pull off a reunion of two denominations. So, for example, the ARP, the Associate Reform Presbyterian Church, and the OPC, they would make a great couple. because they're both about the same size and all that good stuff. You may never serve on a committee that would pull that off. Is it? Does that mean you can't do anything to promote unity where you are in your church? Can you, for a minute, just put your notes down? This won't be in the quiz. Just think with me about this for a minute. What could you ever do, little old you, to not be this, but be the opposite. What could you do to promote unity among Christians? What could you do? Any ideas? You use the term small issues. Yeah, that's interesting. If someone starts to preach from the pulpit of the church you go to that the Holy Spirit isn't a person, he's just sort of like the force, is that a big issue or a small issue? A big issue. Thank you. That's a pretty big issue. You probably need to leave before the fire of God consumes you in the pew. I'm not being entirely serious about that, but it's a pretty serious thing, of course, to remain in a church where there's heresy and God's judgment is gonna come. However, that's probably not the kind of heresy that was involved in the last Christian you knew who up and left your church. Probably wasn't, was it? It's probably a smaller issue. So yeah, just understanding it, Carolina's making, understanding there are large issues and there are small issues, and small issues are disagreements that we might need to live with, right? What else? How else could you promote unity in the church, Emily? So let's say for the sake of discussion that Carolina was referring to genuine differences of conviction about what the Bible says. Are there larger issues like that or smaller issues? What are other reasons why people leave the church? They don't always just do it for genuine differences of conviction. What other reasons are there? Personal opinions. Okay. Just personal opinions? How about their feelings? Getting their feelings hurt. Isn't that often what is the underlying cause? Someone offends you and you just don't want to be around anymore. I'm leaving because there's a mean person at that church. Hmm, what does the Bible tell you to do in a situation like that? Not leave, what does it tell you to do? Elizabeth? The Bible, exactly, the Bible tells you to be stubborn. Did you know there's a good godly kind of stubbornness? You guys know that? What Elizabeth just said was stubbornness of a good kind. I'm staying. I'm working this out with you. I've got an issue, we need to talk about it. I'm not just gonna flake out on this. I'm gonna stay and work this out. That's a good and godly kind of stubbornness, not a belligerent kind of stubbornness. I'm gonna stay. Blessed are the. Look, I don't ever want to be there. I'm not a Roman Catholic. And I don't ever want to be there. I'm not Orthodox with a big Orthodox. But one thing I do appreciate is that they have a pretty fundamental commitment to unity. We're not doing that. And you know what? They kind of mock us for that. problem with this and you guys are talking about solutions and the wonderful thing is you each in your own place wherever you are whatever church you part of with your husband your wife and your 18 children whatever that looks like you have a place in this whole process of keeping You can refuse to get your feelings hurt. You can be stubborn about, no, I'm gonna stay, brother, and I wanna talk, and I wanna work this out. And you can be very modest and humble about the convictions you have. I know this is a lesser issue, and my conviction isn't one that every other Christian holds, so I'm willing to live with people who disagree with you on this. I'm not gonna go find the church where everybody agrees with me. Maybe not. Probably not. All right, so you can go back to your notes now. I'm done preaching. Well, I'm done preaching at least for another five minutes. All right, so the first problem is something we're calling factionalism. I'm out of here. Or more particularly, we're leaving. Because a lot of times when people want to leave, they want people to go with them, right? Have you noticed that about leaving the church? People often want to leave with other people. That's called factualism. All right, number two is the word autonomy. Do you have any idea what I might mean by that word? Have you ever heard that word before? Duncan, what does autonomy mean? Don't Google it. Oh, good. All right. This is from the word for law. Nomos is the word for law. Auto means me, I, self. The autonomous person is a law to himself or a law to herself. Autonomy manifests itself in being unwilling to do what someone else tells you to do. I won't do that, is the slogan of the person in this mindset. I'm not going to do that. The deacons of, can you believe the deacons asked me not to park in the grass at church? I'm not going to do that. I'm going to park in the grass. Who are they to tell me what to do? Can you believe that the elders made a decision that we are going to build a new picnic shelter with church funds that I contributed. It's absurd. I'm leaving. Or I'm not gonna tithe them anymore. I might stay, but I'm not gonna give my money, because I don't agree with how they're using it. Hmm, who's raising their hand? Sarah, yes. Yes, rebellion. Autonomy is bigger than rebellion. Autonomy is saying, but it gives rise to a rebellion. Autonomy is saying, look, I'm going to do what I think is right, period. No one's going to tell me what to do. Now, that runs into a problem with the church. Do you know why? All right, so problem here with autonomy. You could call the problem with autonomy resistance to authority. Resistance to the authority of the church. Turn to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17. The writer of Hebrews, by the way, who was that? You don't know, Carolina? Or are you just saying the ninth graders at Grapevarts don't know? You said we don't know? Well, actually, I would put myself in the category of I don't know either. Some people think they know, but the church has not been agreed on this point. The writer of Hebrews says in verse 17, obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. The writer of Hebrews is talking here about church authority. We have other authorities in our lives. We're to obey the magistrate or the king. We're to obey our parents during that time when we're under their care. But this is talking about the spiritual authorities in their life. Now, put your notes down for just a minute. Let me ask you this question. What would that look like? When would a spiritual authority in your life, Pastor Elder Stephens, when would they ever tell you Can you think of any examples? All right. All right. So spiritual authorities in the church are responsible to come to you when you sin. and to reprove you with love, and to call you back to obedience, and guess what? There's a lot of people who are sinning who don't wanna hear that, and wanna listen. Look, I will submit to you as long as I agree with you. But if I disagree, I'm not submitting. Is there a problem with that? Why would God appoint authority in the church if we were always gonna agree, then no one would ever have a different opinion? Yes, sir? I guess you shouldn't always listen to them because one of my churches, we had a pastor who was stealing the tithes and he used to buy a car. He was using his assistant and a lot of bad stuff happened. And the deacons and deaconesses and the elders were going crazy doing stuff their own way. And I guess you could say that you could use it to your own, well, moral values, deciding whether something was moral or not. So that's a very good point. Those in authority, it's interesting. The writer of Hebrews talks about obeying leaders. He doesn't make any exceptions. Interesting. We know that God holds those in authority accountable to other authorities. And that there are abuses of authority that God will bring judgment for. and other authorities in Presbyterianism, there's always another authority overlooking, for example, me in my office, have the responsibility to address just such an abusive authority like you've described. But in a situation in which a faithful elder, pastor, deacon is seeking to minister in the congregation, guess what? The Bible's very clear that whether it's through preaching or counseling or just decisions that are made by boards of elders, boards of deacons, the members of the church, even when they don't agree, need to acknowledge that authority and submit themselves to it. Guess what, guys? Nobody believes that anymore. Though it's in the Bible. And so this attitude of autonomy is very, very, common and it's a threat to the church. If every time someone who God has appointed in church in large or small ways says something that's to be obeyed and we can all decide, well, I don't think I'm gonna do that. I'm not gonna do that. That's actually a threat to the church itself. So, There are all manner of ways in which spiritual leaders need to exercise their authority, and it is very important to say that they exercise their authority in keeping with the Word of God. If you find yourself in a congregation where the authority is being exercised in ways contrary to the Word of God, that would be a good reason to leave a church. when that authority is being exercised contrary to the word of God. But when it's consistent with the word of God, even on areas where the Bible doesn't say anything, but it does put elders and deacons and pastors in a position of making such decisions, like whether you're gonna build a big naked shelter, that's a decision that is rightfully for elders and deacons and pastors to make, then it's the solution as I put up here on the board, is to submit to God-appointed leaders. All right, one other example quickly, and that is individualism. And I put that in terms of the slogan, I don't need the church. We talked about people who claim to be Christians, who claim to be in a relationship with Jesus Christ, who are confident that they're going to heaven, but they're not part of a church. A fancy word for that is individualism. I don't need the church. The church is fine. It's fine for some people, but I'm not one of those people. I don't need the church. What would Cyprian say to that? Famous quote. He was on your quiz. All right. Why does Cyprian say that? It's not because he's Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic. They have the Rehabilitation Church. But this is a quote of Cyprian that no less than the great reformer, Protestant reformer John Calvin quotes with favor. Let me read to you from the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is a creed of Presbyterianism. I want to illustrate for you how highly Protestants used to think of the church as important for salvation. It is by faith in the gospel that Christ becomes ours, and we're made partakers of salvation. All right, so faith is how you get saved. Since, however, in our ignorance, I'm sorry, I'm reading from John Calvin. That's not what I wanted to read from. Scratch that. Here's the Westminster Confession. The visible church, which is also Catholic or universal under the gospel, consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion and of their children, and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, get this, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. Why would the Westminster Confession say that ordinarily, give me one more minute, I know what time it is. Why would the Westminster Confession say that ordinarily there's no possibility of salvation outside of the church? It's not because they believe that you have to be in the doors of a church in order to get saved. They believe what Cyprian taught. that the church is what nourishes the spiritual life of a Christian. And so someone who's a believer but not part of the church is like a baby left outside all night when there's a freeze warning. That'll kill that baby. That baby has no hope of surviving apart from the warmth and the nourishment of his mother of his house. That's the role of the church as Cyprian taught it and as our Protestant fathers used to teach it. So here's the bottom line. To understand, the solution to individualism is to understand that your commitment to the church is inseparable from your commitment commitment to Christ is inseparable from your commitment to the church. They go together. And that's why wherever you go, and wherever you do, and however many children you have, maybe 19, and no matter what kind of vocation you pursue, ladies and gentlemen, You gotta be part of the church. Your eternal well-being is at stake in being part of the church. All right, I will let, I know you have questions, I will let you go since I'm over time, and if there's anything you didn't get, I'm here to answer any questions you have. All right? Hey, have a great break doing all kinds of